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These engaging creatures are common sights to the summer vacationists at Phillip Island. They are protected by law and heavy fines are imposed upon anyone who harms them. In the daytime the Joey leads a rather somnolent existence, remaining comfortably curled up in a gum tree notch. At night they move about and eat the tender eucalyptus shoots which are their only food. Often, after dark, their heart-rending cry can be heard through the bush. A wail which is the very essence of anguish as a distraught mother seeks her lost offspring.
So take heart, American lovers of the koala. Their plight has been recognized by the Victorian Government and it will be a long, long time before they join the legions of species extinguished by the greed of Man.
LAURENCE BRUNDALL San Antonio, Tex.
Sweetest of All
Sirs:
I read your koala article with interest & approval.
I am sorry I am unable to kick in.
I lived in Australia three years and have seen five koalas. Four that lived in a chicken coop in a backyard in Melbourne and one wild one. The wild one cried and when given some leaves to eat wanted to play. I gave it a finger and it bit me as hard as a newborn lamb can bite.
I was at that time a member of the crew of the U. S. S. Albatross (ocean soundings, volcanic research and the history of the fish of various kinds, 1913-16).
By the way you might mention that Captain Hannegan (as kind and considerate a person as I ever met) and Dr. Chandler Smith, ship's surgeon, pinched the wild koala on the ear gently and the little bear just sat down and wept.
It was an adult male and I want you to know, that it would make the sweetest and gentlest pet of all.
H. N. MCASHAN Glendale, Calif.
Unique
Sirs:
. . . Recently we have received inquiries about breeding koalas in captivity, probably as a result of your article. It may interest your readers to know—though of course this is quite apart from interest in preservation of the species—that koalas are unique in having a vermiform appendix of six to eight feet in length.
RAYMOND L. DITMARS Curator
Department of Mammals and Reptiles New York Zoological Park New York City
Considerate Australia
Sirs:
It is noted (TIME, Nov. 16, Nov. 30) "that though no espouser of Causes, TIME will gladly transmit to Naturalist Burnet Mrs. Schroeder's $50." This appreciation of Australia's native bear, the koala, is creditable alike to Mrs. Schroeder's heart and TIME'S courtesy. American dollars are acceptable in Australia, if received in the form of payment for Australian goods, but may I suggest that the $50 in question be applied to the preservation of American animal and bird life? Australians are not neglecting their koalas.